1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, in general, relates to charts of the zodiac and, more particularly, to charts which show the zodiac in relation to the houses of a person's natal zodiac chart.
In astrology, the position of each of the heavenly bodies is believed to exert an influence on the characteristics and traits a person is likely to exhibit in life as well as the experiences he or she is likely to have and the meaning that is attributable to those experiences.
Basic astrological practices assess the current sign of the zodiac and the current position held by each of the important heavenly bodies, namely the sun, moon, and the planets, and then interpret this information for each sign of the zodiac. When this is done on a daily basis, it is commonly referred to as a daily horoscope.
The sign of the zodiac that a person receives and carries for his entire life is determined by the "sun-sign" of the zodiac at the time of his birth. However, the position of all of the celestial spheres at the time of birth is believed to be especially important.
The sun-sign is believed to greatly influence much about the person's life. Together, the combined position of all of the relevant celestial spheres at the time of his birth is believed to form a tapestry of interwoven influences that affect each person's personality and perhaps even his destiny. While the planetary positions at the time of birth for each person are of necessity omitted from simple daily horoscopes, they are nevertheless important to the individual.
When the position of the relevant celestial objects of the zodiac at the time of birth is printed on a chart, it is referred to as a "natal" chart, or to be more particular a "natal chart of the zodiac" and it is prepared for a person that is born at a given time and at a given location. It is both time and site specific.
Yet, it is believed, that the influences of the natal chart are not of themselves fixed in magnitude, but rather that they vary in accordance with the movements of the heavenly bodies. Each of the planets can always be placed in a certain sign of the zodiac relative to the earth or it is in transition from one sign to another. As the sun, moon, and all planets move with respect to the earth and because the earth is moving as well, these celestial bodies move in and out of the various signs of the zodiac.
Some of these bodies move quickly. For example, the moon moves through each sign of the zodiac in approximately two and one-half days. Planets like mercury move quickly while others, like Pluto, move at a slower pace staying in certain signs of the zodiac for extended periods of time. Therefore, though it is desirable to be able to know the current position of the planets as they relate to the signs of the zodiac, it is difficult to do so, especially economically.
Sometimes, the current position of these celestial objects will combine with those prevalent at the time of birth to either intensify or diminish certain traits or experiential tendencies that may be manifesting. When this happens it is useful for a practitioner of the astrological arts to know of such an occurrence so that he may be watchful of certain events in life and hopefully, forewarned, is able to make better life-decisions.
Therefore it is important for a practitioner of the astrological arts to know the position of the planets and other influential celestial objects at the time of his birth and also to know the influences brought about by their current positions.
It is difficult for an astrological practitioner to keep in his or her mind the positions of all of these celestial bodies at the time of his birth. It is even more challenging to be aware of their current positions, which unlike the natal positions, are in constant change. To look up this information in a table, such as an ephemeris, is useful to obtain planetary positions, but is lacking to the practitioner in meaning because he (or she) cannot visualize the positions of these spheres in relation to his (or her) personal natal chart.
What is needed is an apparatus that shows the natal chart of a practitioner relevant to the zodiac and which also shows, by symbolic representation, the current positions of the heavenly bodies so that by a glance, a moderately skilled practitioner can grasp the likely effects of natal astrological influences as they are combined with current astrological positions upon his or her life.
It does not matter if this is in fact true or not. What does matter is that a great many people believe that it is true and attribute credence to current astrological patterns and forecasts. In other words, they want this information and any device which provides this information is useful to the practitioner of these arts.
In fact, they want more than a general horoscope based on the date that they were born because this astrological component, namely the sun-sign, though significant is not all-encompassing in meaning because it is lacking the information and therefore the influences that are contained in each person's individual natal chart.
When the natal information is factored into the current zodiac it becomes tailored to the individual and is therefore especially relevant and valuable. Detailed information about the current positions of the planets, moon, and sun in relation to each person's natal chart is too specific to appear in any daily horoscope, such as is published in the newspaper. The individual who wishes to fully understand the astrological influences that are affecting his or her life, must find a way to accomplish this for themselves by somehow obtaining and then integrating all of this information. As was mentioned earlier tabular data, such as from an ephemeris, does not aid a practitioner in interpreting planetary positions. A graphical representation is considerably more useful.
The position of the planets, moon, and sun can be determined for any person based on any time of birth occurring at any location on the planet. These celestial positions, when properly shown on a circular or pie chart, produce the natal chart for the person and indicate the birth time as a "zero point" for the individual and also show the positions of the planets in relation to the zodiac at the time of birth. Natal charts also show the twelve "houses" as they apply to each person. Computer software programs are presently available which can generate and print charts that reveal this information.
As the zodiac is based on the number twelve, there are twelve houses that each person will have. The twelve houses will be displaced from the actual transition points of each of the signs of the zodiac to the exact degree that the zero point is offset from the transition point. If, for example, a person was born the same instant that a new sign of the zodiac started, then his "zero point" would align perfectly with the start of that sign and each of his houses would also align perfectly with each of the twelve signs of the zodiac. He would be said to have been born on the cusp of that particular sign of the zodiac.
Most people, not being born on a cusp, have their houses shifted to some extent with respect to the signs of the zodiac. Therefore, it is useful to combine the zodiac with the natal chart in such a way as to provide a visual indication of the shift between the houses of a person and signs of the zodiac.
It is helpful for a practitioner to know the position of the zero point and all of the houses with respect to the zodiac. This would also provide more information for assessment and interpretation. When combined with the planetary positional information of the natal chart and also their current positions, a chart which graphically shows pertinent astrological information would be obtained that is especially useful.
It would also be helpful if the information in such a chart could be easily updated to reflect current positional data as it changes on a day-to-day basis. It would also be helpful if such a chart could be displayed where desired and especially in locations where it can be easily seen. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if such a chart were economical to produce and if did not require the use of residential electrical power to operate.
Accordingly there exists today a need for a natal zodiac chart that shows the natal chart of a user as it relates to the zodiac and which allows for the symbolic positioning of the relevant celestial objects showing their current positions in relation to the natal chart and the zodiac.
Clearly, such an apparatus would be a useful and desirable device for a practitioner of astrology.
2. Description of Prior Art
Zodiac charts and natal charts are, in general, known.
While the structural arrangements of the already known types of charts, at first appearance, have similarities with the present invention, they differ in material respects. These differences, which will be described in more detail hereinafter, are essential for the effective use of the invention and which admit of the advantages that are not available with the prior devices.